Dust and the Physical Modelling of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Developing high-performance numerical modelling tools to investigate the physics of gamma-ray burst afterglows and effects of dust obscuration around the sites of explosion
Institution: Liverpool John Moores University

In the world of transient astronomy, there are so many extragalactic events happening at the same time and high-energy explosions occurring constantly. Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most extreme type of transient events that has ever been observed. These are ultra-relativistic jet bursts from the most violent explosions in the Universe. As they are jetted events, the chances that they align with our line-of-sight are by pure serendipity. This makes it a rarer class of transient phenomena that remains a complex topic with a huge diversity of behaviours across all the currently known GRBs. Thus, their nature and effects around their surrounding environments still warrant much attentions and studies.

This PhD project will be primarily based at the Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) with ample opportunities to connect and form international collaborations. The project will involve developing high-performance numerical modelling code and will contribute to REDBACK, a software package that enables end-to-end interpretation and parameter estimation of all-manners of extragalactic transients. Specifically, codes that pertain to modelling GRB afterglows will be prioritised during this PhD.